Alan Dowson isn’t kidding himself over Dartford’s improved form.

Boss Dowson oversaw a third straight league win on Tuesday night when the Darts beat Eastbourne Borough 2-1 at Princes Park.

It’s their best run of the season in National South, and one that’s moved them into the play-off places going into Saturday’s home game against struggling Hungerford.

But league form had been patchy before that and it’s less than two weeks since they were knocked out of the FA Cup by Isthmian South East Beckenham, so Dowson isn’t pretending his side have cracked it.

“We’ve not made it yet, we’ve still got to do better,” he said. “We’ve still got a lot to do.

“I’m not daft. I’m not thinking we’re going to have a crack at the title or anything like that.

“We’ve still got a lot to do here to get what we want.

“We haven’t got it quite right yet but we will do, it just takes a bit of time.”

Dowson wants to see an improvement in midfield and the return of Luke Coulson from a hamstring injury should help on that front.

He wasn’t risked against Eastbourne but should be available for Hungerford.

“In midfield, we need to pass the ball and we need a bit more pace in the team,” said Dowson.

“Marvin [Herschel] is the only one who’s got pace, we need more of that.

“The opposition full-back hasn’t got a clue what he’s going to do because he hasn’t got a clue himself what he’s going to do.

“The two centre-backs are solid enough and once we get Coulson back we won’t be far off.

“When I first came in for pre-season I thought we would be better after what they did last season (in reaching the play-offs).

“You’ve got to put your own stamp on it and it took us a while to think about where we need to do better in different areas. I’m still in the same boat, to be honest.”

Dowson is certainly enjoying the challenge, however, and the former Woking boss already feels settled at Princes Park.

“I love the club,” he said. “Every club I’ve been to I’ve got promotion and hopefully this will be no different.

“I enjoy being around the club, the people are unbelievable, the supporters are good, they come in numbers.

“I feel really settled here. The chairman’s been different gear and Tony Burman (director of football) has as well, to be honest. He’s been a massive help to me, no hindrance at all.

“He doesn’t tell us what to do, he lets us get on with it.”